


It's my turn now, it's my time now

by sandorizu



Series: The melody playing on repeat in my head [8]
Category: Finnish Music RPF, Music RPF, Pop Music RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-05
Updated: 2013-03-05
Packaged: 2017-12-04 09:45:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/709348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandorizu/pseuds/sandorizu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Still my heart beats in a brisk rhythm<br/>And the brightening future is ours</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's my turn now, it's my time now

_When my youth's over I'm not afraid_   
_I'm not going to hide_   
_I trust that my wings will carry_   
_And I'll fly into the sun_

♫♫♫

He wasn't sure when it had been decided, or even how, but one Saturday in early June Jimi took a train to Turku at the same time Robin's parents were headed to Helsinki by car.

The day for Robin's graduation had finally come and while Jimi couldn't attend the actual service he'd promised to help Robin's sisters with the preparations during it. There may have been some glares and mutterings from Mika's side but when Robin's sisters had insisted they'd need all the help they could get he'd stayed quiet.

In a couple of hours time Robin would receive his white cap, one that Jimi had never gotten himself, and Jimi felt like the proudest person on earth. After the ceremony they'd drive back to Turku, and the guests had been told they could arrive around four o'clock.

Before then Jimi and the team of three girls had a lot of coffee to make and cakes to finish. He had only been over once since they'd talked to Robin's parents and he'd only met one of his sisters before, but they'd opened the door with grins on their faces, instantly handing him their mother's apron.

He'd replied that they'd have to try harder than Marimekko's poppy print to hurt his sense of masculinity. A few slightly disappointed words were muttered as he'd just put it on, rolled up his sleeves and headed into the kitchen. Jimi - Team Sisters 1-0.

They ended up being quite nosy and interested in their big brother's relationship. Maybe it was the fact that there were three of them and only one of Jimi that gave them the courage. Jimi did answer most questions though, even some of the more questionable ones (Who stays over more? Does their brother still sleep naked? Does Jimi have a sauna?) and they actually had quite pleasant conversations, despite all the giggles some of the topics caused.

As the coffee cups were lined up and the napkins folded neatly they started putting out the things that didn't need to be cold. It was already past one and Robin and his parents were probably getting out of the school about then. A small grain of nervosity spread inside Jimi as he thought of all the guests seeing him there.

He was simply a friend, of course. But people would still be interested. That's what these kinds of parties were for. Robin would probably have to answer several inquires about girlfriends and Jimi just knew it would be awkward. Most he feared the people he knew too. They were the ones most likely to find it weird he was there.

The hours passed and everything was almost in order. They expected Robin, Nina and Mika to arrive pretty soon. Robin had texted him ten minutes ago they'd passed Salo so there wasn't much left.

Suddenly the door bell rang. Not all guests knew how to arrive at the right time, it seemed. Jimi was pouring coffee into a thermos at the time and one of Team Sisters opened the door. On the other side was apparently Maki Kolehmainen because just seconds later he walked into the kitchen and the apron suddenly felt very awkward.

"Jimi! What are you doing here?"

_Of course._ "Hi Maki. Oh, just uh, you know, helping out."

"Mm, I can see that. The apron looks good on you."

Before Jimi had time to say anything to that he heard all three sisters burst out in giggles. He tried sending them a furious glare but it was ignored entirely, the only thing he got back being a wink. The game was even now.

"It's there for practical reasons entirely."

"Of course, of course. I didn't know you and Robin were working together again."  
 _That would be because we’ve made sure not to be at the studio while you’re there_ Jimi thought to himself. Maki had by now walked further into the kitchen and was leaning against a table like him being there was the most natural thing. He raised an eyebrow, clearly interested in an explanation.

"Yes, uh, we've been co-operating with some... Some songs, yeah."

It was a good thing he had decided to turn his attention back to the preparations instead of Maki because when the game reached 2-1 to Team Sisters Jimi found himself coughing suddenly and feeling heat spread across his cheeks.

"So that's what it's called nowadays, huh" said the oldest girl, sticking another neatly folded, blue napkin into the Iittala glasses in placed perfect rows. All three of them instantly started laughing. He sent them a nearly panicked glare, the cinnamon rolls and cookies in front of him entirely forgotten. This was pretty bad, wasn't it? That line could actually make Maki get the hint, it was so obvious. He tried to sneak a quick look at Maki’s face, trying to read in his expression if he was catching on to any of this. The huge grin he was sporting was definitely bad. 

"I see, I see. Oh well, the child stars are at it again, huh! Better stay out."

Well. Maybe he shouldn't have worried. 

"Dude Magi, we've been over this, I aint a kid."

"Whatever you say, Jimjim."

Back in the day the way Maki and many others never considered him an adult used to annoy him. He guessed that to some extent his attitude and ways of life gained him the title of 'forever a kid', but it was annoying. When that ended up being the reason he was made Robin’s producer he did slowly change his mind about it, however. And though the joke was getting very old by now, it felt almost encouraging in a way he sure hoped Maki wasn’t aware of.

Then the sound of a car could be heard and one sister checked the window right away. When she exclaimed that Robin was home another instantly followed up with smooching sound effects. Jimi sighed dramatically and decided to ignore it and escort Maki to the living room. And hopefully get him to stay there for a little while. Because the girls were right, he did want to congratulate Robin himself, and since no other guests had arrived yet it might just be possible.

After explaining there were still some preparations to do and that the other guests would arrive soon he hurried back to the hallway. He heard the door open about halfway and suddenly Robin was there in front of him, looking completely amazing in his suit and with the white cap proudly on his head. It fit him so well.

"We're here!" Robin exclaimed and Jimi just decided to ignore his parents entering the house behind him and went straight up and hugged him. With his face buried in Robin's neck, holding on to him as tightly as he could he said "congratulations".

When he pulled back to look at Robin he was grinning like mad.

"Thank you, my house wife. Beautiful choice of attire today."

Before he had time to protest Robin had given him a quick kiss and they broke out into laughter. Maybe Robin's parents pretended not to notice, or they were too busy getting inside, but Jimi was thankful. That little moment of closeness had been needed.

"Oh, congratulations Robin!"

Jimi instantly stepped away from Robin, panic already hitting him when Maki's voice reached them from just a few meters away. His eyes were stuck on Robin's and he could see the same panic there.

"Maki-- you're here already?"

Jimi turned to look at Maki and he didn't look like he'd seen anything weird. But they'd been standing so close when he said that, and who knew how long before that he'd left the living room? He must have seen more than could be considered normal. But there was no sign of it on his face. Jimi took a deep breath of something similar to relief.

"I was a bit early and Ms. Jimbo was nice enough to let me in."

When Robin and his mother laughed Jimi lifted his hands into the air in a gesture of defeat and said "I give up, the cakes are waiting to be served" before heading to the kitchen again, leaving Robin and his parents to greet Maki.

Team sisters had been effective in his absence and most things were already done. There was no point in pouring the champagne before guests started arriving (Maki didn't count) so they'd just have to wait.

He stayed in the kitchen with Robin's sisters, fixing small things that had already been fixing several times, moving spoons so they all faced exactly the same direction and trying a cookie or two until the door bell finally started ringing.

The champagne was opened and he served it to people he had no idea who were and some he did recognize. No one seemed to question his presence and Robin's grandparents said it was nice to see him again. He was sure they would think otherwise if they only knew why he was there. 

He had one glass himself in the first round, wanting to take part in the toast for Robin but it stayed at that. Seeing Robin have to toast with almost every guest entering was quickly becoming very interesting however, which was one of the things that kept the whole party from being completely exhausting. A red tint was quickly developing on Robin's cheeks and around the fifth or sixth glass his voice had gotten a little louder. It made Jimi smile uncontrollably every time he heard it from the other side of the room.

Once most guests had already had the time to do so, and there was no immediate need for more coffee Jimi decided to sneak a look at Robin's degree report. Just like he expected Robin had done very well and there were mostly Es and some Ms. Once he got further down his eyes got stuck on one line, not really being able to comprehend what he was seeing. E in history. Robin had done the history exam and gotten the second best grade? When had he, why hadn't he, was he suddenly interested in history? Why hadn't he told Jimi? Where had this come from? Was it for Jimi?

So many questions spun around in his head, but like a huge cloud over them all spread his weird, silly happiness and giddiness laced with an even stronger pride than before. History was the one subject Robin had always said he disliked. But this report card told him a completely different story. 

He wanted nothing more than to walk straight up to Robin and ask him about it. Somehow this felt like an enourmous thing and Jimi was stuck staring at the report card for a good few minutes before he realised that might look weird, put it down and stepped away from it. He tried catching Robin's eyes, to give him even one stare showing what he felt, but Robin was busy talking to some random relative. 

He probably wouldn't get the chance to bring it up until after the party. This was Robin's party and he'd do all he could to help out and not be of any trouble, as he wanted Robin to enjoy it as much as possible. He'd just have to bottle up this sudden overload of feelings and leave that for later. The thought of another glass of champagne was very tempting.

On the way to the kitchen Jimi ran into Samppa, who had just arrived and was taking off his shoes. Jimi was almost surprised, because this was an over four years older Samppa than he remembered. He realised Samppa was now around 22, it was no wonder he looked so much like a man. Though the beard definitely came as a surprise.

"Yo Samppa, I'll get you some champagne."

Samppa looked up as Jimi went to fetch champagne for both of them and a grin spread over his lips.

"I see you made it here. Nice to see you again, uncle."

Samppa followed Jimi into the kitchen and once he was done pouring the champagne Jimi handed him a glass, lifting his own in a toast.

"Robin's a bit busy over there, but well, cheers."

Samppa laughed and clinked their glasses together. After a few sips Samppa however gestured to the abandoned table in the kitchen and they ended up sitting down by it. Jimi tried suggesting Samppa should try some of the cakes but Samppa insisted the cookies right there in front of him were enough. Not even the fact that the cakes had been finished by one Jimi in a flowery apron helped convince him. 

"So, how's the party going for you?"

Jimi stopped for a second, surprised, as he caught on to what Samppa meant.

"Well. It would be easier if Robin hadn't kept an E in history from me."

"He what?"

"He did history. And got an E. And I had no idea."

"Oh man, Robbe."

"But yeah, otheriwise things are good. Maki possibly saw something earlier though."

"Maki of all people. Well, you won't be able to keep it secret forever. I'm sure both of you know that."

Jimi knew that very well. He wasn't sure if Robin had really thought about it, though. But Jimi had years and years of experience with media and he knew that sooner or later they'd find out. They'd do everything they could to hide it but at some point it will break. But hopefully not for a long time. If maybe Robin had time to get a few more years behind him it wouldn't be seen as so weird. Jimi could at least hope. He sighed.

"Yeah I know. I'll deal with it. I don't think Robin really cares."

"No, he'd let the world know if he could. The way he talks about you is just disgusting some times."

"…Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Now you're having cake."

"Fine."

It was a laughing Jimi that fetched them both blueberry cake and refilled their champagne glasses. From the living room he could hear Robin's loud laughter too and he felt all warm inside. Robin was enjoying one of the most important days of his life, somewhat drunk, and Jimi was having delicious cake partially made by himself with Samppa. Quite a good evening, really.

Every now and then he helped Robin's sisters keep people's coffee cups filled and take out more cake. In between he stayed in the kitchen with Samppa, enjoying the company of Robin's best friend. Soon enough the incoming stream of people stopped and the guests started slowly getting fewer. A couple of times Robin visited the kitchen, usually to get more to drink and at about 9pm Jimi finally told him to get a soda instead. It didn't take much convincing but Jimi had to stop Robin from kissing him where anyone could see. Samppa found it extremely funny.

Jimi had just assumed that Robin would head out into the night with Samppa at some point, like one ususlly did on these special days, but as the hours passed and the guests got fewer and fewer he showed no sign of planning to leave. 

Maybe that was a good thing. Jimi definitely thought so. He felt exhausted and the thought of staying there without Robin was far from what he thought of as a good ending to the day. 

Samppa relocated to the living room with Robin when Jimi started cleaning up. He piled all the empty plates and cups and carried them to the kitchen a small pile at a time. 

"Don't worry about that Jimi, we'll take care of it tomorrow" Robin's mother suddenly said behind him and when he turned around she smiled at him. She looked just as exhausted as he felt.

"You've helped so much, thank you. Now just go, you know."

Jimi smiled.

"It was nothing really, of course i helped. But, thank you."

He took her advice and joined Samppa and Robin in the living room, sitting down next to Robin on the sofa. Without a word Robin leaned on him and sneaked arm around his back. Thankful that all the guests were gone now Jimi gladly took all contact Robin gave him, shifting as close as possible.

"D'aww, I'm still here remember", Samppa commented and a mumbled "I don't care" came from next to Jimi's shoulder. He sent a quick apologetic glance in Samppa's direction and lifted a hand to Robin's neck, to play with the hait sticking out from the cap still crowning his head. 

"I know Robin, which is exactly why I take my leave now before you start groping each other."

"Asshole"

"Love you too, and congrats again."

Jimi chuckled at them and nodded a bye to Samppa as he tood up and made his way out. Robin just nuzzled his face further into Jimi's shoulder, barely sitting upright. Once the door had closed behind Samppa Jimi brought it up.

"So when were you going to tell me about the history?"

"Hmm? Ah, now? Maybe?"

"An E and you didn't tell me."

"I wanted to surprise you. You're always so enthusiastic and well, I wanted to understand it all."

Jimi snorted.

"So instead of asking you studied in secret when I could've helped."

Robin slipped and pulled Jimi down with him so they were lying next to each other on the narrow sofa, legs entwined and arms encircling each other, Jimi's head resting on Robin's chest.

"Your bookshelf helped."

Jimi chuckled into Robin's shirt. _Fuck I love him_ , he thought to himself and lifted his head to give his new history bro a kiss.

"I'm so proud of you."

"Mmm. I'm too tired to grope you. I don't want to move at all."

Jimi nuzzled his face against Robin, shifting his arm to hold onto Robin better, minimizing any distance between them.

"We don't have to move."

When Mika Packalen a few hours later woke up thirsty enough to visit the kitchen the lights where still on in the living room. Thinking nothing of it he went to turn it off, eyes then stopping on the sofa.

There his son and the seventeen years older Jimi were sleeping peacefully in each other's arms. Both were still fully dressed, like if they had simply collapsed there and like no soft bed was worth having to first move away from each other.

He found himself standing there staring for a while, staring at the smile that was all over his son's face even in his sleep. At the way his hand was softly resting in the older man's hair and how that man's head rested right over Robin's heart. 

How they were simply attatched in the most tender way. 

He wanted to get angry, he wanted to wake them up and scream, he wanted to protest. But he simply couldn't. There was something in that smile, something that Mika wasn't sure he had ever seen on his son's face before. And that made him think that maybe there was no point in getting angry.

He sighed and turned off the lights, leaving the two men on the sofa to only themselves and the darkness. With his glass of water he returned to his and Nina's bedroom and crawled back onto his side of the bed. Lying on his back he stared up into the ceiling, thinking through what he had witnessed and how he felt. What he had slowly come to realise. It was a lot to swallow, but maybe he had been wrong.

"What are you thinking about?" Nina suddenly mumbled.

"They-- they seem to really like each other."

Nina didn't answer for a little while, but he could feel her looking at him.

"About time, dumbo."

"Robbe seems happy."

"That's what I've been trying to say."

"I know" he mumbled with a smile, before leaning over and giving Nina a quick kiss.

♫♫♫

**Author's Note:**

> So this was a very positive chapter, hmm? Please tell me what you thought.
> 
> For any non-finns; The grades on our matriculation exams follows a latin system where L is the best and then comes E, M, C, B, A and failed is I. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and I'm so happy you're still with me.
> 
> The title and the lyrics at the beginning are from Kun Nuoruus Päättyy by Robin featuring The Rasmus as translated by me. The lines in the description are from the student song.


End file.
